The Utilitarian Side of Big Data

Big Data is a buzzword that’s currently getting thrown around a lot at retail conferences and in online webinars. As little as twenty years ago, the kind of information that has now been dubbed “Big Data” might have been printed as hard copies and stored in file cabinets or printed in vocational journals with few subscribers. It was filed away, collecting dust, or it wasn’t collected at all.

Today, technology has progressed to where information can be compiled into massive data sets, securely encrypted and stored using network-accessible infrastructure. At the same time, the types of data we can capture and store have grown exponentially as advances have been made in biological and environmental research, sensory technology, software and mobile data logs, social networks, military surveillance, and e-commerce, to name a few.

In a relatively brief chunk of history, yesterday’s warehouses have been transformed into today’s data centers, and now the challenges we face, in addition to how to capture and store data, focus on how to curate it and benefit from it. Companies are taking a virtual glut of information and making it actionable using APIs without compromising security. Businesses of all sorts are increasingly realizing the importance of securely accessing data using technology solutions to provide better customer experiences and solve every day problems, quickly and efficiently.

As we’ve seen at SheerID, creatively utilizing Big Data produces big opportunities. Pulling directly from our experience, companies who use our eligibility verification platform, which uses exclusive, authoritative data sources to determine whether or not customers qualify for gated offers, increase their margins by decreasing fraud. They also report an increase in incremental revenue as they reach new audiences like teachers, military, or college students with a customized, exclusive offer. Other companies using predictive technology to forecast a SKU’s performance, generate recommended items, or formulate which special offer will get the best customer response.

While there are many applications for Big Data in a business setting, an increasing number of solution providers are creating platforms that offer people more utilitarian benefits. The resulting technology is being used every day to improve the experiences of students, small business owners, teachers, military service members, and medical professionals in ways that aren’t immediately associated with the concept of Big Data.

According to legislation passed in 2003 aimed at protecting our uniformed service members, self-storage facility owners cannot auction off the belongings of a customer who is past due on their payments if that customer is on active-duty. Accessing Big Data allows storage facility companies, like Cube Smart, to ensure they are compliant with regulations and prevents undue stress on military families.

Educational tools like Starfish EARLY ALERT can work with schools’ existing learning management systems like Blackboard to help identify at-risk or low-performing students.

New apps are like FluNearYou, GermTracker, Help Remedies, a pharmaceutical start up, and Flu Trends from Google are helping doctors and the Centers for Disease Control monitor flu epidemics and determine which flu vaccine can most effectively stop it from spreading.

Teachers, college students, active duty military, their spouses, and veterans, can redeem teacher, student, and military discounts instantly online instead of showing ID in-store when they shop with companies who use SheerID’s verification solutions.

New medical startups like PatientsLikeMe, 23andMe, and Treato are encouraging patients to take a more active role in maintaining, assessing, and tracking their health and symptoms. By comparing patients’ personal information against data collected by other users, doctors gain more in-depth health histories and improved diagnostic tools.

By partnering with tech solution providers, business owners or professionals like school administrators and doctors can maximize the benefits of Big Data driven solutions while remaining focused on their own customers, patients, and students.

While a great deal of progress has been made recently in these fields, there is still demand for more options to aggregate, analyze, and present data in formats that are clear and actionable for the end users. For example, in 2010, the U.S. Department of Education proposed surveying and tracking the performance of military children in school in accordance with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, aka No Child Left Behind. Although the proposal has the support of organizations like the America’s Promise Alliance and The Military Child Education Coalition, no evident headway has been made. There is also room for growth in hardware and sensors in the medical industry to record patient information using real-time data. These opportunities are just the beginning. As our understanding of data-mining, predictive technologies, and encryption grow more sophisticated, new technology and prospects will develop.

Jake Weatherly is a co-founder and CEO of SheerID, an online shopping cart platform that provides group verification.